Where Is God?

When I was a little girl, oh so long ago, my parents joined an Anglican church here in Edmonton, Alberta. I really liked it. The windows were all stained glass in different pictures and when the sun shone through it was like looking at living art. The church itself was all wood and had a nice smell. Clean, like the sun and rain and wind. The priest was a younger man, new to the pulpit, I figured out later. He always told great stories from the bible. He talked about those people in the bible who were strong, who were leaders, who believed in something beyond themselves. My favorite was the Book of John. Still is.

As a teenager I joined a Baptist group and my life took an odd turn. This was during the 80s when Edmonton was number 4 on the places to have a nuclear strike in the world. This group had no stained glass and I didn’t hear about how to be a good leader or to believe in something outside myself. Here I was taught to fear and hate. Here is where I learned intolerance. At the age of 16 a good friend was murdered by an act of arson. When I went to the pastor to see if she was in heaven, I was told she was in hell. She wasn’t saved. I became obsessed with Nostradamus and the Book of Revelations.

It wasn’t until I became a Witch or Wiccan that I felt safe enough to question my Christian years. I was oddly fascinated by the Inquisition and read all I could about it. At the University of Alberta, I took Religious Studies as my minor. An act that has since served me very well in my writing. It taught me to look at an issue from a detached perspective and how to write a story that endures. I still love the Book of John.

Yesterday I discovered something disturbing; Ric McIver participated in the Calgary Street Church’s “March for Jesus”. This is a group that states very clearly on their website that;

“Last year alone, Calgary’s streets were flooded with people of wrong sexual preferences during a homosexual parade of over 30,000 attendees and none of them were embarrassed the slightest to publicly even present their nakedness in front of families and in front of future generations to openly proclaim and manifest that they are not ashamed to declare the name of their master (Satan) and in the same way not concerned with provoking greatly the wrath of the Living God.”

Gay Pride Flag

Wrong sexual preferences? Excuse me? I had to do a triple take on this line as I’m not sure what a “sexual preference” is. Preference indicates you’re making a choice and choosing something you prefer. LGBTQ people don’t make a choice. It’s who they are. Just as someone who dates members of the opposite sex aren’t making a choice. It’s who they are.

Then I got to the line about nakedness. I’m not sure “nakedness” is viable as a word let alone something to be ashamed of but let’s look at it. At what point do your god or gods tell you to be ashamed of the very thing you say they made? The Christians say humans are made in God’s image yet they tell you that image is something to hide and be ashamed of, something sinful. Wait. What?

I’m not even going to talk about the whole Satan thing. That’s where things just get silly.

Now, I will never tell anyone they can’t have their beliefs, no matter how disgusting I find them. If you want to march in Calgary for Jesus, go right ahead. I’m not sure Jesus needs a march but it’s your schtick. However, just because you believe something does not mean I have to believe it or stay silent about it. If you preach hate and intolerance, I will preach love and inclusion and I will do so until my last breath. Jesus never said, “go out and hate people.” This was the carpenter’s son who said, “love thy neighbour.” This was the man who sat with whores and tax collectors (the goons of the time) and lepers. This was not a man to turn anyone away from his table even when all he had to feed 5000 people was a loaf of bread and some fish. Some people forget that.

What blows my mind is Ric McIver and his support of a hate group. Let’s be clear; that’s what the Street Church is, a hate group. On his Facebook page, McIver states,

“As an Albertan and if chosen Premier, I do and will continue to defend equality rights for all Albertans as defined in the Charter, including sexual orientation. I deplore discrimination against all groups and individuals without exception.”

Okay, let’s assume that Uncle Ric is telling the truth here. My daddy always said, “listen to a man’s words but watch what he does.” My daddy was a very smart man and only had a grade 6 education. So Uncle Ric marched with a Christian group that preaches hate and intolerance towards the LGBTQ community. As a pansexual, I consider myself a part of this community and Uncle Ric’s support of this group for the past four years is disturbing. Now, Uncle Ric says he’s supporting all groups. Okay. Where was he in the Gay Pride parade? He claims to stand up for all Albertans yet his record during Redford’s Reign of Idiocy, something very clear to anyone who wants to take a look at, very clearly says otherwise. Then he tries to pull out his juggling act, hoping that Albertans won’t see the blaze he’s started elsewhere.

Uncle Ric, your record stands for itself. You don’t stand up for all Albertans. You stand up for those Albertans you think will get you a vote. Let me state this very clearly, Uncle Ric, the LGBTQ community votes. We have a voice in Alberta politics and we’ve heard what you have to say. When you joined that march you were making a very clear statement about where you stood on the issue of LGBTQ rights and that was not on the side that marched in the Gay Pride parades.